Answer is a name that has been under the radar for a little while but they’re back again with an all new product line up. Here are two Answer products that I’m sure will pique your interest: The Fall Line DH Grip ($30 MSRP) and the Rove FR Pedals ($95 MSRP). Grips and pedals are the two main contact points between body and bike and Answer delivers the goods.

The Fall Line DH grip is specifically designed for the FR and DH crowd with a slightly thinner body than most grips you’ll find. This enables the rider to keep a firm grip while still allowing rapid hand position changes when the need arises. I found the grip felt a bit tacky which actually let me to slacken my grip a bit - no white knuckling, yet I still felt secure. Speaking of security, these lock on grips feature the familiar locking ring format that’s tried and true so there’s little chance they’ll come loose during the ride.

Installing the grips took just a heartbeat with only one allen key necessary. Just make sure you install the grips with the ANSWER logo facing forward. As a side benefit I found the logo added bit of extra grip due to the raised print. If you’re using a carbon bar, be sure to torque the grips down with a wrench slowly, checking often to make sure the grip does not rotate. There is such a thing as too tight, especially when you’re dealing with carbon bars.

Fall Line DH grip deets:

The Rove FR pedals felt great underfoot on the trails. With 10 pins and a wide, concave, low profile (16mm) platform, these pedals felt solid when the going got rough. Unlike some other pedals I’ve used, the pins on the Roves didn’t look like they would make mince meat of my legs if a foot slipped off. Still, the slightly lower profile aluminum pins offered good grip on my shoes.

Another cool thing about the hex pins is that you can change them with a socket wrench rather than an allen key. On most pedals the pins are nothing more than long allen screws that are inserted into the pedal which allows the screws to back out easily on the trail. The Rove FR pedal pins have a positive “lock” onto the pedal to avoid this situation.

The 6061 aluminum body can take more abuse compared to other magnesium bodies and won’t show damage as easily. The combination of a cartridge bearing and DU bushing promise to keep these pedals spinning smoothly for a long time.

Rove FR pedal specs from ANSWER:

Thanks to the folks at Answer for providing these products for review.

So this may be a bit on the late side but seeing that most of this stuff still hasn’t hit the stores yet I thought I’d share these pics. What I have here is a compilation of my favorite photos from the show with some brief commentary so sit back and enjoy!

By far the coolest frame set I saw (next to the Banshee Legend) is the Intense 951 pictured above. I found myself just staring at this bike for far to long and almost missed my next appointment. Up close to this frame set you can see the quality work that went in to making this one of the most desirable DH frames around. With 150mm G3 rear axle spacing, one point five head tube, and over 8 inches of travel provided by an ohhh so nice Cane Creek double barrel rear shock this bike looked delicious.

Above, the same Intense 951 in red. Still nice, and this one was built up with Shimano Saint components and an Industry 9 wheel set with a Fox 40 RC2 up front and a DHX RC4 in rear. Can you say Sweet?!

Here is something that I personally want and not just for the red and orange anodized finish. The Ellsworth Rogue is a freeride bike with attitude. Not only does it look great but I had a chance to test ride one like this at Bootleg and it was super fun (the only down side - the run was too short). With 8 inches of rear travel and the Fox 40 RC2, this bike is a kick-butt machine.

It was hard to stop looking at Intense with all their models so close yet oh so far away. Here we have a pair of Uzzi frames. The Uzzi in blue has a Fox DHX Air 5 and the Red has the standard DHX 4 coil. You can also get this bike with the Cane Creek double barrel, at a cost of course.  For those who plan on taking big hits and hitting the park all day long you may not need look any further than the Uzzi.

This Ibis above boasts builds in the 25 pound range with 5.5 inches of DW link rear travel for those who want a quicker, snappier ride on a bike that won’t punish you too much after riding all day long. The Ibis can be ordered in various trim levels from Sram XX or X-9 group parts to Shimano XTR, XT or SLX.

I love cut-aways of bike stuff and there were plenty at Interbike to ogle. Here you can see a cut-away of the Fox RP23 with boost valve technology on your left, the new improved DHX AIR RC4 in the middle, and a 32mm F series front fork with Fit technology (borrowed from the 36 and 40mm forks) on the right. The Fit damper now allows the engineers to further save weight on the 32mm line-up by reducing the amount of fluid needed in that damper housing. Get close to a new 32mm fork and you will also notice that the engineers changed up the way the fork works as well by placing the rebound adjuster on the bottom (previous models placed the lock-out on the bottom). Check out FoxRacingShox.com for further information.

Walking around Interbike you couldn’t help but notice the Mavic display. Looking at the line up for next year they have really improved the wheels, especially for the trail and enduro riders out there. The new Crossmax ST wheels are even lighter than before, now at just 1615 grams. Mavic also changed up the graphics on the rims.

The new Deemax Ultimate at 1915 grams a set is absolutely crazy light for a full-on DH wheel set. These wheels come with all the bells as whistles to make them both strong enough and light enough for the demands of the DH circuit. The Deemax wheels also sport my favorite ITS4 cassette body and ISM (inter spoke milling with central spine) which reduces mass on the rim without loosing strength.  Check out Mavic.com for more info on these and the rest of the line up.

Here is just a random photo of the new carbon Ellsworth Enlightenment. What caught my eye here is the fine machine work on a part that just holds the brake and rear wheel. This attention to detail is second to none.

This bike was another one of those that you had to stop and drool over for a while. The Banshee Rune pictured here was shown in flat black and bright orange components. The Crankbrothers Iodine AM wheels along with Race Face AM cranks and bars (not shown) really made this bike and the components just added to the already awesome construction of this frame. You have to check out the Banshee website for more information on this bike as well as the rest of their line-up.

Hubba hubba… umm sorry. But just in case you have no clue what this is, this is the new aluminum version of the Dorado DH fork from Manitou. I am dying to do a review on this unit. This fork has everything a racer would want: high and low speed compression, rebound, and top-out and bottom-out control. To top it all off, these forks are assembled right here in the States. With 36mm stanchions and an inverted design this fork will take a kicking and keep on bouncing.

Answer is back with all new products this year. New thin and stout pedals, super wide 780mm DH bars, and 720mm AM bars are also available. The bars will come in two versions: a one-inch and two-inch rise for the AM Bar and half-inch and one-inch rise for the DH bar. A direct mount stem for the Dorado allows you to change the reach from 45, 50, 55mm while providing a strong grip to the bar with its wide face plate.

Sun-Ringle has totally revamped the line-up with new hubs, rims and colors that promise to impress everyone. The hub shot above gives just a taste of what you can expect to see in 2010. Straight pull spokes, anodized hubs and aluminum cassette bodies.

What’s not to like about the new Hayes Stroker Ace look for this year? Now in jet black with bronze-ish piston covers, this is one great looking, high performance brake set. Along with the Stroker Ace the entire line up now boasts new graphics and now the Stroker Grams come in all white.

Well that does it for my list of favorites from Interbike - hope you enjoyed the pics!